Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: I'm between jobs right now, so I have a lot of free time, in case anyone was wondering where this crazy writing rash of mine is coming from. When I start my new job in a couple of weeks, it'll slow down a lot. In the meantime, enjoy;) And thank you, as always, for the kind reviews!


The Invisible Man

by Kristen Elizabeth


Making the decision to have a child–it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body. – Elizabeth Stone


"Would you like to see the wine list, sir?"

Hank glanced across the elegantly set table for Sara's approval. She shook her head and he replied to their waiter, "No, thanks."

"Very good, sir." The man left them to their menus.

Opening his, Hank noted, "You used to love a good glass of wine."

"These days I prefer to keep my senses completely intact. Especially when I'm out with an ex." Sara scanned the menu, searching for a dish without meat. She'd chosen the restaurant based on the fact that it had a high Zagat rating without being too terribly expensive. She wanted to strain Hank's wallet, not break it. "Everything looks delicious."

"I recognize about half the things here," Hank laughed. "Chicken with mushrooms…that can't be screwed up, right?"

"Depends. Do you like porcinis, criminis and portabellos?"

"Maybe they can leave the mushrooms off."

Sara smiled as she set aside her menu. "Anything's possible. I mean, look at us. I never thought I'd ever share another meal with you." She sipped her water. "I really wanted to hate you."

"But you couldn't?"

"No, I could have. I just didn't want to be that bitter. When the anger eventually faded, I didn't have anything to feel badly about. In fact, all I was left with was one question." Sara looked straight at him. "Why did you do it?"

Hank shifted in his seat and tugged at his tie. "Well, you always were straightforward. It's admirable, until you're the one on the hot seat." He took a few gulps of ice water before he continued. "Okay. The truth is, I met you right at a really low point in my relationship with Elaine. It seemed like we were always fighting, to the point where I sometimes didn't even want to be around her because I knew it would just start up again. You were like…fresh air. Our jobs ran on the same track, so we always had plenty to talk about. Same taste in movies and music…it was great."

"But?"

"But then things with Elaine got better. I know it was wrong to think I could keep living some double life, but I liked you, Sara. I didn't want to hurt you. It all backfired, though, and I ended up hurting everyone. Even myself."

Sara tried not to nod; he didn't quite deserve her approval. "What were you and Elaine fighting about that was so bad?"

"Kids." He shrugged. "She wanted them; I didn't. We weren't even married yet, and she was already reading up on babies and pregnancy. I just…couldn't take it. I guess I wanted to be with a woman who was more focused on her career than her biological clock."

"I suppose I did project that 'career-oriented' vibe back then," Sara agreed. "But it's not so much the case now." The words amazed her, even as they left her mouth. "I really just said that."

"Is it true?"

"Yeah. I think it is." She lifted her shoulders. "With the right man, I guess I want kids. I'm in a good place financially. I'd have to rearrange my life a lot, but maybe it could use the rearranging." A cloud fell over her expression. "But it's not going to happen."

Hank frowned. "Why not?"

How did you tell an ex-boyfriend that you only wanted to have the children of the man you'd been in love with the entire time you were dating? And because that man had made it clear that there wouldn't ever be a relationship, you'd just about resigned yourself to being childless?

"Because how often does the right man come along?" Sara reached for her water glass. "And besides, what kind of a mother would I make?"

Hank leaned forward. "What kind of a mother would you want to be?"

The little girl holding her teddy bear outside of her burning trailer haunted Sara. "The kind who tries her hardest." She blinked. "Okay, I know I agreed to conversation, but this is going a little too deep for my liking."

The expression on his face was unreadable, but it seemed like he was contemplating something. Finally, he spoke. "Seen any good movies lately?"


If he were twenty years younger, the bar Catherine dragged him out to might have been more enjoyable. But at fifty, all he knew was that the music was too loud, the peanuts were stale, and every breast that caught his eye was fake. Not his idea of a rockin' Friday night anymore.

"Out of all the places in Las Vegas…" he shouted across the little table. "…why in the world did you think 'this is the place to take Gil out for a drink'?"

"You needed a change of atmosphere," Catherine shouted back. "Away from your safe little lab and your safe little restaurant lounge."

Grissom sighed. "A comfortable routine is not a rut. It merely offers a sense of security in an otherwise chaotic existence."

"If it makes you feel better to think of it that way, go right ahead." She bit into an olive from her martini. "The last time I was here…"

"The last time you were here…what?" Grissom prompted.

She licked the corner of her lip. "Well…I was with Sara. I took her out for a drink after she found out about Hank."

It was the second time in a week that he'd heard that name. Each instance had flooded him with all the old feelings of jealously and inadequacy. Feelings he thought he'd buried a long time ago when the younger man had mysteriously stopped showing up at the lab looking for Sara, and when all of Nick and Warrick's teasing about her boyfriend had ceased. He hadn't wanted the details back then. But now, he found himself inexplicably curious.

"Whatever happened between them?"

Catherine's eyebrow shot up. "You never heard?" He shook his head as he fortified himself with a slug of Scotch. "Technically he didn't cheat on her, as much as he used her to cheat on another woman. She found out in the shittiest way; Hank and his girlfriend were together at the scene of that case, remember…the little old lady who drove through the restaurant window?"

"I remember." He remembered watching Sara wrap Hank's wounded hand out of the corner of his eye. He remembered his blood boiling like it never had before. It had been the first time he'd really seen them together. It had made it all too real. "That must have devastated her."

"Eh, not so much." Catherine shrugged. "Her pride took the hardest beating, I think. It's not like he was the love of her life or anything."

The Scotch burned a path down his throat. "She told you that?"

"Not in so many words."

"She must have had some feelings for him." Grissom set down his glass with more force than necessary. "She's seeing him again."

"And…did she tell you that?"

"Not in so many…" He stopped. "I see what you're trying to do."

Catherine smiled wickedly. "Oh, Gil. I could never pull the wool over your baby blues." He shot her a look. His reprimanding expression quickly turned to one of confusion as Catherine's eyes grew wide. She was staring at something over his shoulder. "Then again," she breathed. "I have been known to be wrong on occasion."

He should have just let her strange comment slip by him. But he was a born investigator; he had to see everything for himself. Grissom turned his head.

Across the smoky length of the room, he could just make out two people entering. A tall man with sandy hair and a slender brunette. Hank and Sara.


"Hey, isn't that your boss?"

Who knew five simple words could stop her heart? But when Sara followed Hank's pointed finger, she did, in fact, see Grissom. Sitting at a cozy table for two. With Catherine.

She'd never put much stock in the occasional whisper that the two of them had a history. Nothing in their interactions had ever given her the slightest indication that they were anything more than colleagues and friends.

So maybe it was the fact that she was with another man and feeling slightly insubordinate about it that had her rethinking all of that.

It didn't seem like they'd noticed her. They were probably too wrapped up in each other. And maybe it was just as well. No eye contact meant no forced greetings or faked smiles. It meant that she could leave just as quietly as she'd come.

"You know…" Sara pretended to look at her watch. "I didn't realize how late it is. I should be getting home."

"Oh." Hank's disappointment was obvious. "Well, thanks for letting me buy you dinner. I..."

She cut him off. "Sure. Keep in touch." She was in such a hurry to go that she didn't even realize she leaned over and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "Bye."

After her hasty exit, Hank put all the pieces together. Especially after he caught her boss giving him a very dangerous glare.


The next few days at work were some of the hardest Sara had ever been through. She was avoiding two people on her team, and one of them was avoiding her right back. The stress of having to constantly be aware of her surroundings as she moved through her day, just in case she crossed paths with either of them, wore her down. By the end of the week, all she wanted to do was slip into a hot bath, climb into bed and reading until she passed out.

Her relaxing plan was thwarted when Hank showed up at her apartment without so much as a phone call to prepare her.

"Hank?" There was no reason to be modest; he'd seen her in a lot less clothing than just her robe, but Sara found herself holding the garment closed at her throat. "What are you doing here?"

"I'd rather we talk inside. Can I come in?"

She stepped back a few inches, allowing him to slip past her. "What's this about?" she asked, closing the door.

He took a seat on her couch. With his elbows on his knees, he steepled his long fingers, a picture of serious concentration. "Ever since our talk at dinner, I've been doing some thinking."

"Okay…"

Hank hesitated. "There's no really delicate way to say this, so I'll just put it out there and let you digest it. You want to have a baby. I can't say the same, but I think you'd be a terrific parent. I think you should have the opportunity. So…that's what I'm offering you."

"What?" Her head was spinning and not entirely in a good way. "Are you saying…"

"Yeah. Um…maybe you should sit down, Sara. You look a little pale."

She sat in the chair catty-corner to the couch. "Can you blame me? You're offering me your sperm like I'd lend Greg my phenothalein."

"It wouldn't be as clinical as that." He reached for her hand. "And it's not like we've never been in bed together. This time, it would be with a purpose. Not just for fun. And we'd only have to do it…you know…when the timing was right."

"I can't…even believe I'm having this discussion." Sara shook her head back and forth. "It's too surreal. It's a bad TV movie come to life."

Hank had to smile. "I know. Trust me, when the idea came to me, I figured I was going crazy. But the more I thought about it, the more right it started to feel."

"And how's that?"

"When I said I didn't want to have children, I meant it. Some people just shouldn't and I'm one of them. I like my freedom too much. I like not having to worry about anyone else but myself when I'm at a scene."

Sara frowned. "So why are you doing this? It would be your child, too."

"Well, yeah. But I'd trust you to raise it. I'd be a part of its life only as much as you'd want me to be. And if that was no part at all, I'd be totally fine with it."

"You say that now. But the day would come when you'd start feeling fatherly. And then, because it really would be your child, I'd have little to no say in the matter."

Hank squeezed her hand. "I'd sign whatever papers you want saying that I wouldn't do exactly that. Sara…if this is something you want, let me help you. I owe it to you."

"So, you're offering yourself up as a breeding stud because you feel bad about using me to cheat on your girlfriend?" Sara pulled her hand back. "Hallmark has a whole section of 'I'm sorry' cards; you could just send me one!"

"I know who your right man would be." He shrugged. "I'm not entirely stupid." He paused. "Do you ever think he'll come around?"

Sara's eyes misted over. "No. I don't think he will."

"Then…if you can't have kids with him, could you settle for having one with me?"

She looked away for a long time before she answered his question.


To Be Continued